Issue #127

April 28 2016

Editor Picks

Sorry ARIMA, but I’m Going BayesianWhen people think of “data science” they probably think of algorithms that scan large datasets to predict a customer’s next move or interpret unstructured text. But what about models that utilize small, time-stamped datasets to forecast dry metrics such as demand and sales? Yes, I’m talking about good old time series analysis, an ancient discipline that hasn’t received the cool “data science” rebranding enjoyed by many other areas of analytics...

How Information Graphics Reveal Your Brain’s Blind SpotsWe’re only at the very beginning of taking advantage of the ways graphics and visuals reveal our mental errors, our biases, our very bizarre behavior and our blind spots — to our own minds and to the situations of other people. I believe interactives, especially “you do it” graphics, can help. But given the length of this list, I suspect we’re going to be busy at it for a while...

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What Happens When Baseball-Stats Nerds Run a Pro Team?In 2015, the Sonoma Stompers, the team with one of the lowest payrolls in the Pacific Association, a professional baseball league near San Francisco, did something desperate: It handed its baseball-operations department to a couple of stat-savvy writers with no baseball-management experience, Ben Lindbergh and me...

Jobs

FanDuel is the pioneer of online daily fantasy sports, one of the fastest growing sectors of the sports and entertainment industry. The Data Scientist will be responsible for answering the biggest, toughest and most interesting questions facing the company: How do we optimize revenue? Who are our “best” customers? How should we best spend our marketing budget? As an expert in machine learning, optimization and statistics you will apply your talents across all business areas, implement your findings, and make a great product even better for all our customers. This role requires a unique blend of business understanding and technical expertise – and the ability to communicate the outputs of difficult calculations in a way that’s clear, concise and unambiguous....

Training & Resources

Spreadsheet Thinking vs. Database ThinkingThe shape of a dataset is hugely important to how well it can be handled by different software. The shape defines how it is laid out: wide as in a spreadsheet, or long as in a database table. Each has its use, but it’s important to understand their differences and when each is the right choice...

bayes.js - MCMC and Bayes in the browserbayes.js is small toy JavaScript MCMC framework that can be used fit Bayesian models in the browser. I call it "toy" because I would use it for fun, but not in production...